My Best Friend's Story

This Blog Content Has Been Moved - Update Below

2009-01-24T18:38:00.001-08:00

This blog has been moved along with quite a few other blogs. The complete list of my promotional blogs and the links are listed below.

Update January 23, 2009 - I have made some major changes to the blogs I'm offering and I am updating this list to reflect those changes. These changes should make it easier to find information and give additional exposure to every one who submits information about their books and themselves.

ANY published author is welcome to submit these questions and answers to promote their books. To use any of these blogs - click on the link, click on "how to submit" in the top corner of the blog and follow the instructions. I ask that you send the questions and answers as an RTF file. It is also good to send a jpg file of your book cover - no PDF files for the cover art. When you complete the interview, send to nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com with the interview title in the subject line and I will add you to the list for that blog.

I have divided the blog lists for fiction and non fiction books to make it easier to find the ones you need. I've added several new blogs lately - so if you've been here before - there are some new options.

Two quick updates -

The print edition of Book Promo 101 is complete and available. The print book is oversize 8" x 10" and the layout is gorgeous. The manuscript for Book Promo 201: Promote Online With Web 2.0 is with my publisher and will be available in early 2009 -- there will be updates posted. If you would like details about the contents of this book, visit http://www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_201.htm

I offer a wide array of promotional services to authors. Feel free to take a look at the possibilities and contact me with questions. If you are interested in something that you don't see listed, let me know and we can talk. For a list of these services visit - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

I offer a wide assortment of virtual book tour options and the current list is located at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/04/virtual-blog-tour-options.html - there are a number of options and price ranges or we can talk about other options. I'm also planning to add more services in late winter and early spring 2009. If you would like to be added to my mailing list to get the latest updates, send me a message at nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com

Promotional Blogs for Fiction Books

Share your furry writing companions - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-submit-information-about-author.html

http://itsallinthesetting.blogspot.com/ - Details about story setting.
How to Submit – http://itsallinthesetting.blogspot.com/2007/07/its-all-about-setting.html

Animals in Your Book - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/

How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-submit-your-book.html

Villains in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_7729.html

Heroine in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_134.html

Hero in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

Best Friend - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_28.html

Share Book Details - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

http://frombookstomovies.blogspot.com/ - From Books to the Movies
If a movie was made about your book, which actors and actresses would play the main characters? This is your chance in case a movie of your book and it can be a lot of fun.
How to Submit – http://frombookstomovies.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-submit.html

Interview a Male Character - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-submit_6392.html

Interview a Female Character - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-submit_1859.htm

In Detail With Nikki Leigh - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Give potential readers more information about you and your background.
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/- Can you tie a topic or element from your book with current events? This is the place to submit them. Send them to me and I'll review them.
How to Submit - http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit.html

Do you have interesting promotional ideas and suggestions that you would like to share with other authors? http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com

How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit-your-promotional.html

http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/ - Share your book cover.
How to Submit – http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/2007/07/judge-book-by-its-cover.html

http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/ - Share your First Chapter
How to Submit – http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

Promotional Blogs for Non-Fiction Books

Share Book Details - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

Share your furry writing companions - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-submit-information-about-author.html

Animals in Your Book - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/

How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-submit-your-book.html

Before I Was Published - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Tell us about what you did before you were published and especially include anything that relates to your books and your writing.
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/02/tell-us-your-story.html

http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/- Can you tie a topic or element from your book with current events? This is the place to submit them. Send them to me and I'll review them.
How to Submit - http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit.html
Do you have interesting promotional ideas and suggestions that you would like to share with other authors? http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com

How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit-your-promotional.html

http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/ - Share your book cover.
How to Submit – http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/2007/07/judge-book-by-its-cover.html

http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/ - Share your First Chapter

How to Submit – http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

I reserve the right to refuse to post any submissions, but so far I haven't needed to turn anyone away. I did edit a couple of first chapters to maintain a PG-13 rating for my visitors. That could be one of the reasons why some have such a long waiting list. All the blogs are listed on my Blogger profile which is located at - www.blogger.com/profile/00985309338453728557.

Nikki Leigh
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Author Promotional Services - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

Hunting the Egret by Bryn Colvin

2008-10-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
‘Hunting The Egret’ is an erotic paranormal tale. Some of the eroticism is quite dark, exploring what happens when a BSM relationship becomes abusive. The book is set in Gloucestershire, England.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
My central character, Verity, is an odd soul. She doesn’t really connect very well with people and as a consequence pours her heart out to an aged hawthorn tree that grows near her house. However, the hawthorn tree does talk back, and Verity, being a rather magic creature herself, is able to hear that subtle voice.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?
The hawthorn tree offers advice and companionship. Verity is a very lonely person, and this gentle voice makes a lot of difference in her life.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
I tend to write about loners and misfits. The trouble is, it’s difficult to explore a character if they don’t have people to interact with. I needed a few entities my heroine could interact with – aside from her rather peculiar family. The purpose of the hawthorn tree is to give Verity something to talk to in times of distress.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?
Deep affection. However, there’s a lot you can’t do with a tree, and as the Hawthorn itself is keen to point out, she does need human contact as well.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
It’s not the kind of relationship where there could be problems.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
No.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
Not really. Although I am tempted by the idea of writing about dryads, so I might have a more central tree character one of these days.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
I have one or two friends who are trees. Seriously. I’ve always talked to trees myself. Visually this one’s inspired by a hawthorn I met in the Malvern Hills.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
For people who find the idea of talking trees hard to get to grips with, please do bear in mind this is a paranormal book, there’s a witch, a goddess, two shapeshifters… in which context talking trees may not seem so odd!

11 - Please provide your website link. http://www.myspace.com/brynneth_n_colvin

12 - What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.loveyoudivine.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=28&products_id=337&zenid=e8fb5f33a911b999e381b72512589bd7

Best Friend From The Girl Who Fell

2008-08-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
“The Girl Who Fell” is a fantasy novel, set the Forest of Estraguil.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
Guile has two dear friends, and the three of them play music together, traveling through the forest as bards. Tirol is the eldest of the three and has mentored the younger musicians. He’s stern and serious, and plays an instrument akin to a marimba, but made of bone. Luthian is melfate – neither masculine or feminine, but something else. A talented percussionist with a keen sense of humour and a compassionate nature.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?
Guile is very much supported by his two close friends – the three of them support and aid each other.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
The trio create the musical magic that runs through the very heart of the narrative..

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?
Deep friendship and attachment, which endures even when memory has been stripped away.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
With patience and a determination to find the right way through any conflict.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
There are, but I’m not prepared to post any plot spoilers!

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
No. ‘The Girl who Fell’ is a very self contained book and I don’t plan to revisit any of the characters in it.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
Not consciously, but the trio bear an uncanny resemblance to the band a friend of mine was in some years ago. The first gig of theirs I went to was very strange – because I knew them and had spent a couple of months writing about them, without having met them. I’d seen a few pictures, but they hadn’t been consciously on my mind when I was writing.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
Nothing I could add without giving too much away.

11 - Please provide your website link. http://www.myspace.com/brynneth_n_colvin

12 - What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/chapters/TheGirlWhoFell_BrynnethColvin.shtml

The Girl Who Fell by Bryn Colvin

2008-08-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

“The Girl Who Fell” is a fantasy novel, set the Forest of Estraguil.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Guile has two dear friends, and the three of them play music together, traveling through the forest as bards. Tirol is the eldest of the three and has mentored the younger musicians. He’s stern and serious, and plays an instrument akin to a marimba, but made of bone. Luthian is melfate – neither masculine or feminine, but something else. A talented percussionist with a keen sense of humour and a compassionate nature.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Guile is very much supported by his two close friends – the three of them support and aid each other.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

The trio create the musical magic that runs through the very heart of the narrative..

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Deep friendship and attachment, which endures even when memory has been stripped away.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

With patience and a determination to find the right way through any conflict.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

There are, but I’m not prepared to post any plot spoilers!

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

No. ‘The Girl who Fell’ is a very self contained book and I don’t plan to revisit any of the characters in it.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Not consciously, but the trio bear an uncanny resemblance to the band a friend of mine was in some years ago. The first gig of theirs I went to was very strange – because I knew them and had spent a couple of months writing about them, without having met them. I’d seen a few pictures, but they hadn’t been consciously on my mind when I was writing.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

Nothing I could add without giving too much away.

11 - Please provide your website link. http://www.myspace.com/brynneth_n_colvin

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/chapters/TheGirlWhoFell_BrynnethColvin.shtml

Meet the Best Friend from Bloodstone Castle by Mirella Patzer

2008-06-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Bloodstone Castle virtual blog tour moves on today and we get to learn about the best friend. Mirella Patzer shares information about the best friend and how he helps the heroine...

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

Bloodstone Castle is the story of one woman, torn between love and duty, caught in a fight to the death between two men determined to possess her and the ancient Roman treasure buried in the caverns beneath her castle.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Massimo Baronno is Morena’s best friend. He is almost like a brother to her. When Massimo was a child, his parents were murdered and Morena’s father took him and raised him.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Massimo is always there to help Morena and he also helps those he thinks are good like Amoro Dragone.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Massimo wishes to pay back Morena and her father for their many kindnesses. So he always has Morena’s best interests at heart.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Morena loves and trusts Massimo. He is like a brother to her and has aways protected her.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Like any brother and sister, I believe they would quarrel.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

No, but Massimo sees clearly what Morena is blind to and he tries his best to help her even if she doesn’t think she needs his help.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Yes, one day I hope to write a story with Massimo as my hero. But I have three major novels to finish prior to that. So I can’t say for sure, but the thought of writing his story has occurred to me.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Yes, Massimo was inspired by my own younger brother for he is also kind and generous and would look after my best interests. .

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

For now, Massimo played a minor role, but he is intriguing and although he is on the back burner for now, he just might make another appearance one day.

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://www.mirellapatzer.com

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

You can purchase Bloodstone Castle at any of my sites:

http://www.mirellapatzer.com

http://mirellapatzer.blogspot.com

http://bloodstonecastle.blogspot.com

http://bestofitaly.blogspot.com

Or you can buy from Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Bloodstone-Castle-Mirella-Patzer/dp/0978486528/

You are encouraged to stop at each blog visit and post a comment for Mirella. Each comment enters you in a drawing for a free print copy of the book at the end of the tour. So, visit Mirella, learn more about Bloodstone Castle and post comments. Mirella looks forward to getting to know her readers.

The Best Friend From Searching For A Starry Night

2008-05-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

My Best Friend’s Story

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

Hi, I’m Samantha Ann Carlton, Sam to my friends.

My bff, Lita Jackson, and our friend’s funny Dachshund Petey help* me locate a lost miniature painting, a real replica of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in the book, SEARCHING FOR A STARRY NIGHT, A MINIATURE ART MYSTERY by Christine Verstraete. The book is coming out in May ’08 from Quake/Echelon Press. www.quakeme.com *(Lita helps; I won’t say what Petey does!)

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Lita and I have been friends since we were seven when she moved to Wisconsin from Mississippi. She is taller than me, (lucky her!) and slim, with curly black hair. She hates the curls, I say it makes her look like an Egyptian queen or like that pretty singer, Alicia Keyes.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Lita is always a big help to me and tries to keep me out of trouble. That doesn’t usually work, of course!

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

She keeps me focused. Lita helps us get done faster and sometimes she sees things I miss. Without her, I’d really make a mess out of things! (Not that I don’t anyway!)

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

I’d feel lost without her. I can’t think of us not being friends. That hits me when Petey digs up an old manuscript. It has funny words on it and what looks like an ancient curse. I told Lita it was no big deal. I didn’t realize at first how much it really freaked her out.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

I always hope things’ll take care of themselves. Not always a good choice, I learn.

7. What are the problems between the best friend and your main characters?

I like watching spooky movies, but Lita’s a big chicken, so I always tease her. We usually don’t argue, but this time she got real mad at me. She says I’m selfish. I do see what she means about me taking her fears, and sometimes her feelings, too lightly.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Lita’s a real star and can do anything she wants. She’d be awesome in her own story!

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Lita’s a one-of-a-kind.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

My friend’s a real bookworm. All kinds of things make her think of some book she’s read. .She likes writing, too. That’s way too much like homework for me. But that’s okay. She’s still an awesome friend

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://cverstraete.com

Sinbad's Last Voyage

2008-03-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

It's a story of a man who hates Terrans helping a Terran woman find her husband afer he's been accused of being a spy. It's set against the backdrop of an inerplanetary war.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

If there's a "Best Friend" in this book, it would have to be Jake the Bartender. He's around thirty, is a Terran. Jake Goldstein runs the Asteroid Cantina, Sinbad's base of operations when he's on Earth, and is one of the few Earthers whom Sinbad actually likes. The Cantina is located in Old Town in the Thieves Quarter and is off-limits to the authorities. The law in Old Town is that "Law Abiders coming into the Quarter can expect to be killed; Lawbreakers leaving the Quarter can expect to be arrested."

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Jake arranges false identities for Andi when Sinbad has to help her escape the Federation, he's a master hacker, and he's also the one who handles for Sin's finances. He also brings in Sadie, one of his "girls" to disguise Andi as a hooker in order to help her get out of Old Town.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Andi goes to Old Town to find Sinbad and ask him to discover where her husband, who's been arrested as an Alien National and a spy because of the war, has been taken. She goes to one bar and is sent to Jake, is told that if anyone knows where Sinbad is, it'll be Jake. The Asteroid is a focal point for most of the men who come to Old Town.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Sinbad hates Terrans because of what they did to his parents and his planet. It's ironic that he makes his base of operations in a Terran establishment and that his best friend is Terran. At one point when he states how much he hates Earthers, Andi reminds him of this and he says, "There are a few individuals, like Jake. that I find...congenial," because he can't think of any other way to describe how he feels about the bartender.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

They don't really have any major problems. Sinbad comes to Jake's for R&R after each smuggling run. Jake takes his profits and converts them into Credits. He arranges sales and handles getting new identity cards, etc.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

Jake protests when he learns Andi wants to find Sinbad because he knows how his friend hates humans, but at her insistence, he sends her to him. When the Federation soldiers come looking for her, he helps hide her, and makes new identity cards for her, as well as hacking into the main Federation Computer and finding out where her husband is being held. He doesn't really worry about any of it because he has faith in his own abilities--and in Sinbad's--in not being discovered.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Jake's too sedentary and satisfied with his lot ever to have his own story although he's mentioned in several other of the Sinbad novels.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Unfortunately, no.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

11 - Please provide your website link.

www.tonivsweeney.com

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

For paperbacks: www.lulu.com; for e-books:www.doubledragonbooks.com

Cover of the Year - Asking for Your Vote

2008-02-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

I just scanned the covers for Cover of the Year on Erin Aislinn's website and saw a lot of familiar covers - many were on my Judge A Book By its Cover blog last year :)

I invite you to visit http://www.erinaislinn.com/BookCoveroftheYear2007.htm and I hope that you will vote for Lady Lightkeeper which is one of my covers and it is listed as the winning cover for September.

If you prefer the easier route - feel free to email webmail@erinaislinn .com and put "VOTE for Lady Lightkeeper" in the subject line. I appreciate every vote :)

Nikki

Book Promo 101 - NOW AVAILABLE
www.nikkileigh. com/book_ promo_101. htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Would you like information about the newest
blog tour option? Ask me for details and visit
www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion

Nimrod Rising - A Novel By Steven Clark Bradley

2008-02-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book. - Nimrod Rising is a book that seeks to answer where the terrorist scourge that currently plagues the world came from. The premise of the book is that the evil hitting the world is more than just a political phenomenon. I paint the picture that starts actually more than 4000 years ago when the first organized Satan worshipper, Nimrod, the first king of Babylon, is born resulting from a pact made with Lucifer by Nimrod's father Cush. The material used for this is all true historical facts. I spent 12 years researching this novel and was able to find several ancient texts such as the Book of Adam and Eve, the Cave of Treasures and the Book of Enoch. Of course, the actual events in Nimrod Rising are fiction, based on prophecies from the Bible and extra-biblical materials. Whether one is a believer in such things and future events said to be awaiting the world, the story is riveting and exciting and will touch the reader in so many different ways. I consider it a book of hope and faith in the midst of evil so pervasive that there is no where to turn but to the divine. As I say on the back of the book, ride the storm of Nimrod Rising.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them. - The Heroine is difficult to choose since there are three major female characters. The first two are Sally Michael, Shepard's mother. She was kidnapped as a believer in God and forced to have Manassa Dormin's child. She is really such a strong character and strong in faith.

Also, there is Elif Michael (Karaoglu) the Turkish wife of Shepard Michael who worked for Manassa Dormin but finds faith and turns her life and family around. She too is large in meaning in the story.

Yet, I have to say that the most powerful figure in the story is the six year old child of Shepard and Elif, Jesse. She possesses the powers of her daddy and grandfather, but the heart of the child shines through so powerfully how she reaches out to the grandfather and finds the miniscule residue of humanity left in Manassa Dormin. She can bring tears to the reader's eyes and truly wins the day through the wisdom of a child.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book? - My main hero of the novel has to be the character, Shepard Michael. Shepard is the son of Manassa Dormin who is the villain in the story. He is abused and used by his father to bring about the final destruction, but he remembers the principles that his mother, Sally Michael, taught him and resists his natural inclination for evil. I think we can all relate to him in that we have all had to resist doing wrong, and the wrong has often been an easier decision for us than the good. He is a really powerful figure in the story and very profound in his outlook.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book? - Sure, he is the one who will either stop Manassa Dormin or open the door to complete power for the forces of darkness. He is a young, somewhat confused and very smart man who is torn terribly by forces inside his mind. He loves his daughter and wants his wife back and is ready to lay down his life to save them. He is vital to the story of Nimrod Rising.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend? - Shepard and his daughter Jesse both have special gifts and are both sought out by evil, but even from afar, Shepard is able to save his little girl and Jesse has tremendous love for her daddy.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend? - Jesse confronts so many problems and sees her daddy being torn in two directions and reminds him as only a father's little girl can, with tender innocence. They are close and depend greatly on each other.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters? - Only stresses of the moment and fear of losing each other. Nimrod Rising truly demonstrates a lovely relationship between a father and his daughter.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story? - I can imagine anything, so perhaps.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know? - Well, Shepard is a good man, touched by evil and tempted by it. He has undergone a tremendous amount of abuse from his evil father, Manassa Dormin, but his faith and his mother Sally has helped him continue. Yet, his love for his little girl Jesse and his wife Elif truly pushes him forward into correct decision, but the rest I'll just let you read. I can't say any one person inspired his character, but I will say, he represents someone I'd like to be like, not that I am at all, but would like to be.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share. - The two other very important characters in Nimrod Rising are Mike Wakely and Gabriel. Mike Wakely is an archeologist who knew Dormin in Pakistan where they both were missionaries at the beginning of the book. Mike plays a vital role as the brains of the opposition against Dormin and is British. He is witty and smart and has a large role in part two of the novel. Gabriel is the founder of the movement called the MESSE, Messianic Servants of Elyon. He is a quiet soldier who shows lots of courage and intelligence and devotion to God and country.

11 - Please provide your website link. - www.stevenbradley.net

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

amazon.com
booksamillion.com
powells.com
bordersstores.com
barnesandnoble.com
copperfields.booksense.com

For much more information about Steven Clark Bradley and Nimrod Rising visit - http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/steven-clark-bradley-author-nimrod-rising

Silk Palace by Colin Harvey

2008-01-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

I'll let the Library Journal do it for me, because I'm so proud of this review!

"The city-state of Whiterock, with its Silk Palace formed from nearly indestructible spiderwebs, is perched atop a high mountain between two rival empires. Here, changing one's name is tantamount to heresy, and the gods themselves sometimes take a direct interest in the world. Into this volatile situation arrives a young woman named Bluestocking, ostensibly to translate some rare and puzzling scrolls, but the secret she bears may rescue or undo the world. Harvey (Lightning Days) brings to life a compelling world of flying machines, wizardry, and divine magic."

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

The princess Lexi is the middle child of the King and Queen of Whiterock. She's a plump blonde in her early twenties, pampered and spoilt, a captive of circumstance due to be married to a fat foreign ruler and is bored to the point where she could scream. But she is lonely too, and recognizes a kindred spirit in Bluestocking, for all that the latter is an intellectual and Lexi barely knows which way up to hold a scroll, and has a kind heart as long as she is indulged.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

She helps Bluestocking by providing friendship and support at a time when the heroine is very lonely.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

She is the catalyst for the falling out between Bluestocking and at least one of the other princesses, inadvertantly placing her friend in mortal peril.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Bluestocking likes her, but is aware of the precariousness of their friendship; Lexi can turn on her at any time having absolute command over anyone in the country with a few exceptions, such as her mother and father.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Discreetly! Bluestocking knows that she cannot afford to alienate a third member of the Royal Family, but must instead humour her as best she can.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

Oh, yes; She's owner to Kyr, Bluestocking's slave lover, she falls out with her two sisters and falls obsessively in love with a visiting prince, and clashes regularly with her fiancee's representative.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Possibly -- but there are too many other stories to tell first....

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

In the best traditions of fiction, she is a composite of many spoilt, beautiful young women.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

Like almost everyone else in the book, she has a dark and terrible secret that has a major impact on the course of The Silk Palace, and which (of course) I cannot reveal.

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://www.geocities.com/colin_harvey/TheSilkPalace.html

12 - What is the link to buy your book? In paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Silk-Palace-Colin-Harvey/dp/1934041424/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195502320&sr=1-1

Electronically: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook51966.htm

Novels from Swimming Kangaroo Books:

Lightning Days -- SF, Finalist for the USA Book News Awards

The Silk Palace -- "compelling" Library Journal

"Intrigues, betrayals, murders, love affairs, transformations, and

revelations," Bruce Boston, author of The Guardener's Tale

www.geocities.com/colin_harvey www.myspace.com/colin_harvey

Nimrod Rising with Stephen Bradley

2007-12-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story? - I can imagine anything, so perhaps.

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

publishamerica.com

amazon.com
booksamillion.com
powells.com
bordersstores.com
barnesandnoble.com
copperfields.booksense.com

Stephen invites you to visit him in January at www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion. He will be available all month to talk with you about his books.

Blog Tours - What Would You Like to Know

2007-12-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a tele-seminar next week about blog tours and I would love input from you all.

There are many things to discuss about blog tours and I worked out some initial questions to get people thinking - they are:

Discover Ways to Promote Your Book on a Virtual Blog Tour to Gain Greater Visibility and Sales

What are the benefits of doing a blog tour?

Should you promote your book in a blog tour?

Should fiction and non fiction books be promoted differently in a blog tour?

Should you organize your own blog tour?

Why hire a publicist to organize your tour?

If you hire a publicist, will you still need to work on the tour?

Can you use a blog tour to promote anything besides books?

Is there a new option in book blog tours?

But, now I need to create a couple of handouts and I'd love your input. Is there any specific info about blog tours that any of you think would be most helpful? Some folks here have done tours, some have hosted touring authors and I bet some of you have thought about doing a tour. So, since many of the people here are authors, I figured it would be a great place to pose the question. What information would you suggest I offer in handouts? Thank you all for your thoughts. There will be plenty of blog tour info coming very soon .

Nikki Leigh

PS - The answer to the last question is - most definitely. Stay tuned for much more information about that option - SOON. Or, contact me to be added to the mailing list - nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com with Mailing List in the subject line.

Late Night Sessions

2007-11-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

‘Late Night Sessions’ is a novel about love, healing and good music. It’s set around the West Midlands folk scene.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Kirsten is a small, pixie woman, a very self possessed individual in her early twenties when we encounter her. She first meets Vicky, the heroine, through college. Kirsten advertises for someone to go to a folk festival with and Vicky responds. They hit it off almost instantly and end up as flat mates.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Kirsten helps Vicky intentionally when she can, but also creates a situation that forces the heroine to grown and develop.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

She’s a lot more than just a plot device and in terms of the story’s emotional content, she’s very significant indeed.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

There are unresolved things between Vicky and Kirsten, but Vicky’s emotions are predominantly love, and profound grief.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Kirsten is an honorable person, but a touch bloody minded. She is seldom very tolerant of Vicky’s dithering and uncertainty, and not afraid to say the things Vicky needs to be told.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

Only in that Kirsten is already dead when the story begins.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

No. Her story is fully played out within this book.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Yes. A very beautiful druid friend of mine announced some years ago that she didn’t know how long she had to live. Thankfully she’s still here, but I have borrowed a little from her in creating this character. Kirsten exists partly as a response to that shocking news and partly due to the loss of friends and family members in recent years.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

Kirsten is an active druid, the first such character I’ve written.

11 - Please provide your website link. http://bryncolvin.mysite.orange.co.uk

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Late-Night-Sessions/dp/1934446076/ref=sr_1_1/202-6559455-6676664?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191227563&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Late-Night-Sessions-Bryn-Colvin/dp/1934446076/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in/105-8048599-4428442?ie=UTF8&qid=1191227046&sr=8-8

The Last Free Men - by Jack Everett & David Coles

2007-10-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

The Last Free Men ...

“We, the last men on earth, the last of the free, have been shielded till

today by the very remoteness and the seclusion for which we are famed ...

But today the boundary of Britain is exposed; beyond us lies no nation,

nothing but waves and rocks and the Romans.”

from Calgacus' address to his army at the battle of Mons Graupius.

...Tacitus.

During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd Century AD, Rome's Ninth Legion was sent to Hadrian's Wall in northwest Britain to quell an insurrection that threatened the Empire's hold on the region. They were never heard from again. Historians have speculated for centuries about what might have happened to the mighty Ninth Legion -- here is one intriguing possibility.

THE LAST FREE MEN is the story of Marcus Gettorix, son of a Roman general and a British woman living in the northwest frontier of Rome's mighty empire (modern-day Scotland). During a battle, Marcus is wrongly assumed to have murdered his commandant. He is sentenced to work in the mines and escapes, the Druids use Marcus as a figurehead and fan the flames of resentment into an insurrection that joins British and Scottish tribes against the Romans. Now allied with the Druids, Marcus lures the ambitious Roman general in charge of the Ninth Legion into a deadly trap destined to create one of history's greatest mysteries.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Marcus' best friend is the Centurion, Emelius Karrus, a hard-bitten career officer in the Roman Army who has taken the younger man under his wing. Karrus joined the Roman Army in his teens, signing up for the minimum tour of duty of 25 years. His career progressed; he is now one of the primi ordines, the Legion's five top centurions, the men that the Legions rely upon. Emelius' family is the army; it is not unlikely that there might be some paternal feelings in the relationship.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Emelius helps Marcus. When Marcus is unbelievably found guilty of murdering his commandant, Emelius uses the fact of Marcus' father being a senator, to persuade the military court to commute the usual death sentence to life imprisonment.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Emelius and Marcus end up on opposite sides of the campaign which leads to the destruction of the Ninth Legion. The two personalities lead the reader through the reasons and preparations for this conflict from both viewpoints.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Marcus feels admiration towards Emelius, some one to rely on; this changes to a reluctant respect after their split.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Plain speaking and honesty would straighten out most difficulties and problems. Agreement to disagree would handle those problems that could not be settled.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

There certainly are - more on Emelius' side than Marcus because Marcus' apparent murder of the commandant was so unbelievable and out of character. Only after the younger man's sentencing and escape do the facts become known by which time, Marcus has already changed sides and become a worry to the Roman command.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

It's a possibility. Emelius as we, the authors, know him is a charismatic figure. He is intelligent, capable and a real person with enough gaps in his history to create a highly paced story around.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

He was inspired by the idealistic figure of the best of modern British Regimental Sergeant Majors - the officers who hold the whole thing together.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

The thing about Emelius is that he is that person everybody looks up to, whom everyone asks advice from. The Roman Army didn't retire their best soldiers - officers or legionaries - at 40 years of age. Emelius and his contemporary centurions were the backbone of the military, the most respected part of the Roman war machine.

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://www.davidBColes.co.uk

http://www.JackLEverett.me.uk

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.virtualtales.com/StoryProducts~tn~Last+Free+Men.html

Finding Funboy by Matt Golec

2007-10-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Tell us a bit about your book.
"Finding Funboy" is the story of a young, not-quite-out-of-college journalist who tries to find a missing childhood friend. What starts as a simple favor quickly turns complicated, as the narrator's search for Funboy changes forever the way he sees his friend -- and himself.

Call it a pulp detective novel crossed with a coming-of-age story, or "The Big Sleep" meets "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (apologies to Bogart and Broderick).

Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
The best friend is Funboy of the book’s title, and he and the main character have known each other since childhood. I have a few friends that go back that far, and I think there’s a special quality about friendships that span our entire lives. Those friends met you before you learned grown-up manners and societal expectations, and in many ways they know the ‘real’ you better than anyone outside your family.

Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
Funboy -- the best friend -- represents the past for the main character as he struggles with coming into his own as an adult.

How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend? Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
The main character definitely feels conflicted about this best friend. The first time we hear about Funboy, he’s made off with the main character’s bicycle -- unasked, as his style. The main character loves this guy like a brother, but as they’ve gotten older, Funboy’s irresponsible, devil-may-care nature has begun to cast a shadow on their friendship. As the main character searches for Funboy, these conflicts come to represent the main character’s sometimes rocky path in coming of age.

How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
In a normal situation, they’d probably shout it out or knock each other around before ending up laughing at themselves -- they’re young guys, after all. But “Finding Funboy” covers a time that’s anything but normal, and the way the main character learns how to step into adulthood while integrating aspects of his childhood -- especially his best friend, Funboy -- is the heart of the book.

Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
No -- as much as I like these characters, I think I’ve told their stories.

Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
Funboy is a mix of a bunch of people I knew -- a little bit from here, a little bit from there, and a little bit out of my own head. I don’t think it’s wise to drop a real person whole cloth into a fiction story -- real people deserve their privacy, of course, but it can also be difficult to get your characters to do what you want them to do if they’re too heavily based on real people.

Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
While long-time friends can be great rocks of stability as we go through the twists and turns of getting older, they can also hold a person back if they fail to grow up, or if they grow in an incompatible direction. Funboy is the focus of the main character’s attempts to grapple with this contradiction.

Please provide your website link.
www.mattgolec.com

What is the link to buy your book?
www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_07/finding_funboy.htmlor www.lulu.com/content/1041286

Dominic by Hazel Statham

2007-09-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
‘Dominic’

London 1775 Dominic Blake, Earl of Vale, is a young man of privilege and breeding whose world is turned upside-down by Jack, a beautiful young girl in boys’ clothing whom he finds sheltering on his doorstep after fleeing an attack by her abusive brother.

Despite leaving his protection, Jack is once more destined to enter Dominic’s life when, injured in a horse race, Dominic is forced to rusticate to his father’s estate and again meets Jack in her boyish guise. In turn, she becomes his pupil and his love.

Despite danger and misunderstandings, this is the story of their unconventional and delightful courtship.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Lord Wroxham is Dominic’s friend and companion on the town. As young Georgian men do, they taste all the pleasures offered by life in London.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Eventually, Wroxham is more of a hindrance than a help, causing what appears an irreparable rift between the hero and heroine.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

It would have been hoped that he would have aided the couple, but he had an agenda all of his own and instead set about overthrowing his friend.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Initially, Dominic is quite happy to share his life with his friend, but when jealousy rears its ugly head, his opinion soon changes.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

They both handle their problem in a different way.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
There certainly are!

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

No! He would definitely not make a good hero!

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

No – he’s just a figment of my imagination.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

He’s secretly jealous of Dominic and begrudges his popularity.

11 - Please provide your website link.

www.hazel-statham.co.uk

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

www.amazon.com/Dominic-Hazel-Statham/dp/1597058009/ref=sr_11_1/104-9549334-9146335?ie=UTF8&qid=1186157065&sr=11-1
www.wings-press.com

Each person that posts a comment for Hazel will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of her book at the end of September.

Only Moments by Nick Oliva

2007-09-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Tell us a bit about your book.

The book is about two people who spend all of their time, 24 hours a day, with each other. They are lovers, musical partners, and best friends to each other. The book opens in the year 2020 and then works its way back to 1970. It is a whirlwind romance that shows hope through tragedy, happiness through love of the self. It is much to pack in a romance novel, however it is about life and the things that happen to these two people who come to rely on each other throughout their lives as they set out to become successful musicians.

The journey begins in the year 2020, with a romantic surreal dream and the waking of one sixty-six year-old widower Chris Vadia, a retired professional musician, and his sullen celibate perspective due to his wife dying fifteen years earlier. After establishing the human surroundings of the time period, we flashback to 1970 and we find how he meets the love of his life, while on a wild summer vacation driving through California. A beach in Big Sur is the dramatic background for the beginning of their impassioned romance.

Time then shifts through their college days, marriage, their struggling and successes, the World Trade Towers disaster, parental deaths, their Carnegie Hall debut, and then the crisis of having grown so far apart despite being with each other constantly. Our unforgiving fate, the duality of technology, the commonality of human emotion throughout history, ties into a tale of human devotion that eventually brings understanding and hope.

Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.They are both each other's best friend. They meet as Chris, the lead figure, is sixteen and goes on a wild cross-country ride to California.

When we open up the first chapter, we already know Chris' best friend and life-mate is long gone and he has suffered greatly. The depression he allows himself to stay in for so long changes as he begins to recount the past-though involuntarily. The setting of the future, it's technology and the nature of humans, that rarely changes though the ages, is explored during the exposition. The real fun begins when we go back to his youth. He and his crazy friends end up in Venice Beach and while on a walk Chris stumbles upon the beautiful music of a violin emanating from a house and stops, sits, and falls into a trance listening while sitting on the porch. The father of Angela (she becoming the eventual best friend and love of his life) comes home and startles him and both Angela and her mother come out on the porch to see what happened. They are appreciative that he has been listening to her playing for over an hour and invite him in. Once they find out that he is a pianist they chide him into playing with her and the enchantment that occurs is the basis for their immediate friendship and future love that turns into a bond that drives them barreling forward relying on each other almost in fantasy-like expectations as they mutually use each other in a conscious effort to make their musical dreams come true.

Chris' name was selected as Christopher Columbus was the discoverer of the New World. There are many references hidden, and some not so hidden, such as the letter he writes to the love of his life on Columbus Day about exploring the "new world," and many other references. That sense of discovery is really re-discovery as there is nothing new in the universe, just our awareness of it. Many of us have forgotten and/or forsaken the core essence of who we were in our youth and our values and dreams and it is that re-discovery that the book focuses on and that commonality of re-evaluation that occurs when one reaches the point of middle age and the passing of the torch. Life has two sides, the Ying and Yang, the duality of nature. The loss of one so close changes and completely alters the outlook of life and that sadness can only be cured with the understanding and love of the self. Once he accepts his mortality and experiences the things he does (I can't give away the plot) he becomes aware of the miracles that surround us everyday and lives each day knowing it is truly a gift.

Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
Each of the two main characters in this book has a set of flaws that drive them to become great artists. Angela is deeply flawed because of things that happen (again I can't give it away) in her early childhood and the loss of her brother in the Vietnam War that was shielded from her by her parents. Those memories act as a dual impetus to drive her into wanting recognition and love from the audience's applause to fill the void she sub-consciously harbors. Chris so is love with her playing and insecure because of his lower class background and having much less talent than she. He compensates by voraciously studying and driving himself so hard to catch up with her and in the process loses the sense of whom Angela really is.
His best friend comes to his aid and puts him back on the path to redemption long after she has died. You have to read the book to figure that one out!

How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?
They love each other with total conviction until deep insecurities begin to chip away at the bond that ties then professionally and personally.

How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?Most of the time they hide them behind words and actions that belie major problems in denial. He looks past her ranting and neuroticisms to see only the best of her actions and doesn't act on what he knows is damaging behavior on her part. She keeps her secrets secret and allows the mental "cancer" to spread.

Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
Trust begins to break down as the hectic pace of their lives, the traveling on the road, the drugs to keep them awake and performing night after night wears them down as their youth passes to middle age. The medical problems from arthritis and repetitive strain issues really begin to wear on Angela as she begins to lose her precise abilities and becomes frustrated and questions everything about their lives together. This is the beginning of their "crisis" that has been allowed to develop over many years and culminates in her leaving the house. You have to read the book to find out what happens after that.

Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?No the story ends with this book.

Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
Both are a conglomeration of people through my life, my own personality, and complete fictional characters.

Is there a message to their experience?The message is live life to it's fullest everyday! Don't expect life to treat you kindly and the "road" will be bumpy with potholes and dangerous curves, but it will take you places you have never been as long as you stay on it and that is the important part. Stay on it! Don't give up no matter what. Death is over-rated and the other side is an eternity. I know. I was there. Stay awhile and let time heal and be good to yourself and as Chris' best friend, lover, and partner for life tells him -remember that "Love is all there is. Never lose that gift."

Please provide your website link.www.onlymomentsbook.com

Sara from Lady Lightkeeper by Nikki Leigh

2007-09-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is an unscheduled stop on my virtual tour. I scheduled my entire tour without planning to visit any of my own book promotion blogs. That was because I created these blogs after the tour was planned. So, I decided that I would drop by today to tell you about the best friend in Widow's Walk and Lady Lightkeeper. I hope you enjoy. I will also include this stop in the book giveaway. Post a comment and you will be entered in the drawing for a free copy of Lady Lightkeeper.

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
I’ll include the back cover blurb for the first and second book in the series to set the stage for this book.

Widow’s Walk – Misty Cove Chronicles, Book One

First in a series of three. Days before her wedding, in October 1841, Lizbeth climbs to the widows walk atop her home, with her fiancé. They search the dark and stormy horizon for her father's fishing boat and Lizbeth notices the darkened lighthouse on the point.
In such a violent storm, her father and the other men from Misty Cove need the lighthouse to guide their boats safely into harbor. In the morning and the lighthouse lamps shine out, but it's too late. Death had come in the stormy night and the community is devastated by loss. Is love enough for Lizbeth to overcome the needless death of her father?
Mourning and an investigation into the light's failure delay the wedding. When, at last, Lizbeth and William pledge their love, will they find happiness?

Lady Lightkeeper – Misty Cove Chronicles, Book Two

Lizbeth's happy world is turned upside down. Can she move ahead with her life? Lizbeth keeps an almost obsessive vigil from the lighthouse catwalk. She must find a way to help her children.

Friends help her realize she can help the townspeople and move her life ahead. The assistant light keeper helps her learn the ropes of her new job. He is a secretive man. Is he hiding a dark secret or a lifetime of hurt?

Lizbeth's children grow up in a time and place where death and loss are prevalent. Can Lizbeth draw on her disappointments and help them understand and cope?

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be
with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
Sara is the best friend. She was hired about 15 years earlier to live in with Lizbeth and her father. Captain Sullivan brought Sara to the house to care for his young daughter while his fishing boat was at sea. (This backstory will be in a short story I hope to release before November 2007. There will be news about the story on my website. The tentative title is A Whisper on the Waves.)

Sara is in her late 40’s – early 50’s in Lady Lightkeeper. She’s proud of her Portuguese heritage and it is apparent in her appearance. She has long dark hair, an olive complexion and she is a tall woman. Sara is a very loyal person and she cares very much about Lizbeth and her family.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?
Sara helps Lizbeth and is her greatest supporter. However, she is also very helpful with Lizbeth’s children – Aidan and Marta.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
Sara is in the story as the former caretaker for Lizbeth when she was much younger. She’s a housekeeper and friend of Lizbeth, the main character. In Widow’s Walk she devoted all her time to help the family, but I gave her some story elements of her own in this book and she even has a boyfriend.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?Lizbeth loves Sara like a mother. Lizbeth lost her mother when she was very young and Sara took care of her for over 15 years. They have a very strong bond, but it is tested within the pages of Lady Lightkeeper.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle problems or difficulties with the best friend?This actually happens in the book. A long hidden secret is revealed to the town gossip. This woman mistreats Lizbeth at every opportunity and she loves to harass Sara – so getting word of a big secret is bad news for my heroine and her best friend. I can’t tell you how they handle it, because it gives a lot away.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?Only problems caused by Ida – the villain. But, she really stirs up some big trust issues.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?Sara will have a short story of her own. She might get more exposure in the future that depends on reader feedback for A Whisper on the Waves.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
I hadn’t really thought about this, but I have an aunt and a good friend who didn’t raise me, but they have always been there to support me. Sara doesn’t have any physical or personality traits like these two women, but their presence in my life could’ve inspired her character in some ways.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share. The only thing I can think of is the fact that the story would be very different without her. She contributes a lot to the story and means a lot to Lizbeth and her family. It simply wouldn’t be the same without her. She’s also been a great character to write.

11 - Please provide your website link.
www.nikkileigh.com

12 - What is the link to buy your book?
Full order information is on my website at www.nikkileigh.com/books_4_sale.htm.

The TRUTH, I'm 10, I'm Smart and I Know Everything! by Dr Barbara Holstein

2007-09-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
My new book, THE TRUTH, I'm Ten, I'm Smart and I Know Everything, is a delightful, humorous secret diary, written by a girl who is 10-11 years of age. She is wise and yet so innocent. She makes us cry and laugh and remember ourselves. Behind this very easy read is the psychological message to the women reading THE TRUTH that they can and must recapture the fire and passion of their girlhoods not only for themselves to flourish and be happy, but for the next generation to also have the gifts of good emotional and spiritual health.

Women love the book and so do girls, ages 10-14. Women find it a pure delight-a hot fudge sundae with a secret message inside and no weight gain, while girls recognize themselves and finally feel totally understood!

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
'The Girl' in The Truth, I'm Ten, I'm Smart and I Know Everything does indeed have a best friend, of sorts. Her best friend is the character Nancy Drew, who she idolizes and sees as the personification of being smart, and having a wonderful, adventurous life. She loves Nancy Drew because she stays focused on solving mysteries and is not seduced by other silly attractions like flirting or wasting time. Also, she loves Nancy because the girl even feel superior to Nancy, often solving mysteries before Nancy does.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?
Nancy Drew and her mysteries help 'The Girl' in powerful ways as she struggles with growing up. Nancy gives her courage to hold on to what is special about herself as she worries her way toward early adolescence.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
Yes, she does have a specific purpose. She is a heroine figure that 'The Girl' can play off of without any of the angst of a real life best friend.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?
She adores her and wants to be like her when she is a teenager.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
That is kind of an unknown as this best friend is all in 'The Girl's' head. However, she would dearly like to really know girls of Nancy's passionate nature who also have purpose in their lives.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
Of course there are not, as 'The Girl' is mistress of this friendship and always gets to feel smarter than Nancy Drew.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
Obviously Nancy Drew has had her own story and millions of dollars have been made from it as well as thousands of girls have been entranced in positive ways, as was my character.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
Yes, of course, my memories of Nancy Drew.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
I think we all probably know what we need to know about Nancy. Wasn't she your pal also?

11 - Please provide your website link.
www.enchantedself.com

12 - What is the link to buy your book?www.enchantedself.com/bookpage.html or Amazon.

Partially Human by Dwayne Anderson

2007-09-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

Partially Human is a story about a group of friends who discover that one of them possesses the genes of a dying alien species in his body and how they help him cope with it.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

The protagonist actually has several best friends, each of whom is his age. They were each originally each others’ friends, but included the protagonist in the group after he someone close to him moved away.

Rick Warris is an African-American whose parents and aunt were killed in a drunk driving accident. As a result, his uncle, a tavern keeper and motel operator who offers shelter for the homeless, stopped serving alcoholic drinks. His family has a history of racism against them.

Peter Christjes was raised in a religious family; everyone is named after a biblical character. His father is a minister of the church the protagonist attends. Peter frequently quotes from the bible which is his favorite work.

Eric Blonfly is the son of the police chief. He is the only member of the group to have a girlfriend, but one who is obnoxious, vain, self-centered, and henpeckles him.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

These three friends continue to stand by their friend the protagonist of the story. They also later befriend three different girls and help them with their problems while becoming their new boyfriends in the process.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Each does their best to help the protagonist cope with being ostracized by the city after his extraterrestrial heritage is revealed, thus demonstrating the true meaning of friendship and loyalty.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

At first, he is too depressed by his predicament to have his spirits lifted by his friends, but as he learns to accept himself, he appreciates the efforts of his friends who try to help him.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

There are no difficulties, problems, or conflicts, between the protagonist and his friends.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

None.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Everyone has their own story, yet if I were to write the complete story for each, I’d have to write one book for them all.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

I have an online friend named Tiffany who I can depend on to brighten my day whenever I’m feeling down. She stands up for me when others put me down.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

Nope, I’ve told you everything I know about them.

11 - Please provide your website link.

http://www.geocities.com/andersondwayne/dwaynegand.html

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.bbotw.com/description.asp?ISBN=0-7414-3990-5

It can also be purchased at Amazon

Killraven by Arline Chase

2007-09-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

KILLRAVEN is the story of Hope Voeschell, who was raised in a pacifist sect, and who, thanks to her best friend and former teacher, Elyza Whitely, moves to a small Chesapeake Bay island.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.Elyza is ten years older than Hope, a self-proclaimed "horse-faced spinster," who has a jolly personality, but no real hope of romance. She is one of eight sisters, all of them prettier, and has dedicated her life to educating other people's children.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?Elyza was Hope's teacher after the county government insisted children from her sect MUST attend school. She also boarded with Hope's family. Elyza is the reason Hope wanted to be a teacher.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?Several. She inspired Hope to look beyond the narrow precepts of her strict faith. She helped Hope get a scholarship to teacher's college. Then, when Hope found it impossible to get employment, again because of her faith, Elyza offered her a temporary home on Killraven Island.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?The hero thinks of Elyza as "the schoolmarm" and is othewise not concerned about her. Hope is enormously grateful to Elyza and also feels beholden to her for the refuge she has offered.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
Hope would be lost without Elyza. She has been "shunned" by her own people for becoming a teacher and can never go home again.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?No. Elyza is supportive and kind.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
Elyza is the main character in a sub-plot of Killraven. So she does sort of have her own story.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
No. She just toddeled on into a short story I was writing and the story tunred into a novel. Elyza grew with it.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share. She dreams of finding a love of her own, but knows it's all moonshine.

11 - Please provide your website link.www.arlinechase.com

12 - What is the link to buy your book?http://www.amazon.com/Killraven-Arline-Chase/dp/1594311374/ref=sr_1_9/104-4441723-8273525?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186496718&sr=1-9

Fraterfamilias by Peter Ferrer

2007-08-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

Fraterfamilias by Peter Ferrer (pseudonym for Judith Doloughan and Paula R. Stiles).

It's a mystery/SF thriller set in pre-9/11 New York. Quiet architect Paul Farrell, wanted for four murders in Paris, walks into a hail of police gunfire at JFK. Suicide-by-cop. Case closed. Then Paul's eccentric Russian brother, paleoanthropologist Alan Kedward, steals the body, putting Interpol and a disturbed NYPD homicide cop back on the case together. But Paul is still dead--isn't he?

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

Alan Kedward has a graduate student named Bobby Corazon. She's in her early twenties, Puerto Rican and from a very broken home. Alan is the first person to care what happens to Bobby since her policeman father died when she was four. He's become her mentor in academia, and in life. He sees potential in her that no one else wants to see.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Bobby helps Alan, which gets her into a huge amount of trouble.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Yes, she's the only person that Alan can turn to and trust at the beginning of the story when his brother does something terrible.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Bobby is absolutely loyal to her academic advisor and even has a bit of a crush on him. But that doesn't stop her questioning his actions whenever he does things that she thinks are screwy. A lot of what Alan does looks pretty screwy, so she has a lot to say.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

Alan is torn between his loyalties to his brother and to his grad student. He makes light of Bobby's objections, but in the end, he refuses to abandon her. This gets him in a whole lot of trouble.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

Not really. She mainly interacts with Alan for most of the book. She does stand up to a villain all by herself, though. Successfully, too.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

I don't know about her having an entire book to herself, but I do see her having her own storyline within a book not far down the road.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Oh, yes. Judith and I each had certain characters that we created and that were particular to our respective experiences. Bobby was one of mine. I modeled her (in general) on my own experiences in graduate school. Unless you come from a family of academics, getting a higher degree can be incredibly difficult. Without those family connections, you have a hard time finding the support you need to find the funding and do the research, not to mention maintain your concentration long enough to finish. People outside that culture tend to both envy and disparage it, while those inside the culture don't necessarily want to welcome you with open arms. This is especially true for women and minorities, who are not traditionally well represented in academia. People think that the "Ivory Tower" is an easy place to be, but they forget that you have to get in there, first. Bobby and Alan's relationship reflects the harsh realities of academic culture for grad students like Bobby and lower-level instructors like Alan, the apprentices and journeymen of the academic guild.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know?

Feel free to share.Bobby is a tough cookie. I liked writing her. Even though she got some good resolution in this book, I'm hoping to give her more to do in the future. She's just somebody trying to pull herself up by her own bootstraps instead of whining about her lot in life and inflicting her pain on everyone else. I like that about her.

11 - Please provide your website link.http://www.geocities.com/rpcv.geo/other.html

12 - What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.virtualtales.com/StoryProducts~tn~Fraterfamilias.html

Judi Moreo and Kim Baccelia - Virtual Tour Stops

2007-08-21T19:53:00.001-07:00

Promotional Interview with Judi Moreo

This is the first author promotional interview that I've posted on my Self Promotion blog on the Inspired Author site. This is the first interview in a series that I'm doing with Kathleen Gage. She is posting some on her blog and I'll be posting all of the interviews on my site. To read about Judi Moreo's promotion - visit http://inspiredauthor.com/v3/promotional-interview-judi-moreo-0

~ and ~

Kim Baccellia - Young Adult Author - Earrings of Ixtumea

Join Nikki Leigh and Muze as they interview young adult author Kim Baccelia about her book - Earrings of Ixtumea. This is the opening question of the interview -

Nikki & Muze – I was reading the synopsis for your book and was intrigued by the inner struggle that your character faces. It’s also interesting that she is confronted by the same cultural problems in the fantasy world. Can you give us some information about how you came up with this idea and what sort of problems she deals with in the story?

Kim –As a bilingual teacher in the later ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, I saw a lot with my second language students. I taught in a LA county school district, close to East LA. I also was researching my own family history at this time. I was bothered how each year my students would draw themselves blond, blue-eyed, and fair skinned. Click here to learn more about Kim and Earrings of Iztumeahttp://muzesmusings.blogspot.com/

Nikki Leigh – Fiction Author – http://www.nikkileigh.com/
Book Promo 101 – www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
“Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance”

One Night in Boston

2007-08-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

1 - Tell us a bit about your book. One Night in Boston is a contemporary romance novel that takes place over a single day and night. Twenty-four chapters equal twenty-four hours for the main characters, former lovers who meet up after ten years apart and realize they still have feelings for one another.

2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them. Eden Browning has known our heroine, Maggie Doyle, since elementary school. The two girls grew up together, went to NYU together, and were joined at the hip until Maggie moved to Rhode Island to start her own business and Eden ended up working as an assistant to a high-powered attorney in Boston. Eden is a heartbreaker: beautiful, bold, and sensual. She’s small in stature, has long blonde hair and perfect makeup, and can wind any guy around her little finger. She also takes charge of situations where Maggie tends to waffle.

3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book? Eden helps out Maggie, who is searching for the stepbrother she lost contact with long ago. Later in the story, Eden also helps both the stepbrother, Dillon, and the hero, Jack. She is one of those characters who has a way of

managing and manipulating situations while remaining entirely likable.

4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book? She helps Maggie both with the details of finding her stepbrother and with the emotional turmoil that Maggie faces once she finds Dillon and after she meets up with Jack. She also has a major role in the ending of the novel.

5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend? While Eden might be a little flighty at times, and while Maggie feels that Eden doesn’t take life as seriously as she should, deep down she adores Eden for sticking by her.

6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend? As the quieter and more mature friend in the relationship, Maggie would probably just let things blow over. Eden’s a tough woman to fight with.

7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters? Only in the respect that Eden can’t understand Maggie’s hesitance in going after what she really wants.

8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story? Maybe. When my line editor read the final version of this novel, she asked if I had planned a sequel with Eden as the main character. I took that as a positive sign that readers will get to know and love her, and want to see more of her!

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know? I’m lucky enough to have 2 close friends who have many of the same personality qualities as Eden. So, yes.

10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.

11 - Please provide your website link. http://www.allieboniface.com/

12 - What is the link to buy your book? http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/one-night-in-boston

HOW TO SUBMIT

2007-07-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

If you would like to see information about your book featured on this blog, I need you to answer the questions below and send the answers to me. This works best if you copy the questions into a document, answer the questions, save as a RTF (rich text file) and email them to me at nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com. Please list "My Best Friend's Story" in the signature line. You can also send a copy of your cover art if you would like me to include it with your post. I look forward to learning more about you and your book.

1 - Tell us a bit about your book.
2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.
3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?
4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?
5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?
6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?
7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?
8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?
9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?
10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.
11 - Please provide your website link.
12 - What is the link to buy your book?